


Never too Late?

by FicAlthusserist



Category: Star vs. The Forces Of Evil
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Jarco - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-12
Updated: 2020-12-26
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:47:44
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 9,448
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25230370
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FicAlthusserist/pseuds/FicAlthusserist
Summary: What if the blood moon curse had not been “beloni” and had been affecting Star and Marco in far more sinister ways than they thought?  Not only that, but when old feelings for Jackie resurface after the curse is broken Marco must ask himself, is it already too late?Diverges from cannon towards the end of Curse of the Blood Moon.
Relationships: Chloe/Jackie Lynn Thomas, Marco Diaz/Jackie Lynn Thomas, Marco Diaz/Kelly (Star vs. The Forces of Evil)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 10





	1. Chapter 1

Bathed in the light of the blood moon a mewmin girl and human boy were dancing. It felt so real the two of them could be forgiven if their minds wondered and they forgot, imagining for a moment they really were back at the Blood Moon Ball almost two years ago. Instead it was all an illusion, both of them locked in a deep magical trance by the severing stone.

After a minute the more bombastic dance moves had finished and the teens were almost still now in the middle of the dance hall.

“I don’t want my destiny determined by some creepy curse, but..” Star had said, concern etched across her face, “...I like this.” At that, the former Princess wrapped her fingers round the boy’s hand. He responded in kind, his thumb moving to encapsulate her's.

“Yeah?” He had queried, raising his mask to reveal the face of Marco Diaz, consumed by a frown, “Me too.” 

“What if it was never the blood moon?” A trace of despair creeping into Star’s questioning voice while a tear had formed in her eye.

The pair’s thoughts were interrupted by a shattering sound above them. They looked up to see the red crystal the blood moon had been directed though had broken in two. Not only that it’s colour was fading right before their eyes.

Marco and Star’s eyes met one another's again, but before a single word could be spoken they were consumed by darkness and felt the other disappear from their grasp.

*** 

Red, that was what consumed Marco’s vision once the darkness faded. He slowly sank in a mass of red liquid. As it filled his eyes and mouth he realized with horror that it was blood. Choking on the vile fluid Marco began to swim towards the surface. In spite of his efforts however he was unable to reach it. A current was dragging him down. While at the back of his mind he retained awareness that none of this was real, a primal fear gripped him that he was going to drown somehow.

Marco’s morbid thoughts were broken when a hand pierced the surface, gripped his wrist tightly and pulled him up. In a daze he was dragged out of the mass of blood and deposited onto a rocky bank with a thump. Wiping his eyes clear, Marco stood up and took in his surroundings. He was on a beach, with a massive ocean of blood stretching out to the horizon. Marco could not see too far in the other direction due to a series of steep hill’s that obscured his vision. It was a cloudless night with a bright canopy of stars overhead. Among them was a cracked moon with a faint hint of red to it. ‘The blood moon?’ Marco thought to himself and noticed that in just the short time he was looking at it, the colour had stated fade and was now almost gone.

Marco turned his gaze to the figure of his rescuer. Standing before him, smiling serenely, was his best friend Star Butterfly. Her clothes had changed. No longer wearing the pink dress from the Blood Moon Ball, now she was adorned in her old green one with the pink ghost on the front. The dress she'd been wearing when they first met. “Star!” Marco cried out happily. “Thanks for the save, good thing you didn’t end up in the...blood...with me.”

“No problem.” Star replied, “But the thing is, I’m not really Star.” Marco blinked taking in her form, ‘it sure looks like her’, he thought.

“Well if you're not Star, who are you?” Marco asked suspiciously. Unconsciously he shifted into a combat ready stance.

“Well I guess I am Star, in a way,” the figure who looked like Star answered. “I’m your Star, made of how you think and feel about her.” Marco considered the words of the fake Star in front of him. He supposed it was no less strange than finding himself back at the Blood Moon Ball dancing with Star. With that a thought crossed his mind.

“Wait a minute, does that mean it was you I was dancing with just now?” Marco asked, his voice concerned. Many important things had been said, it would be cruel if he’d only been conversing with a metaphorical fragment of his own mind.

“Oh no, that was the real Star.” The fake Star assured him, “You don’t need to worry about that.”

“Well,” asked Marco looking around and seeing no one else, “where is she then?” The fake Star placed a finger to her chin as she considered his question.

“If I had to guess,” she replied, “I’d say she was in her own head talking to her version of you right now.” ‘I guess that makes sense,’ Marco pondered.

“Well my next question is, do you know why I’m here? Is there something I’m supposed to do?” The fake Star gave him a sly smile.

“Maaaaabye,” she answered coyly, provoking a raised eyebrow from Marco. “Come on,” said the fake Star, “Let's go for a walk.” With a casual shrug of his shoulders Marco fell into line beside her as they started to head inland.

As Marco walked beside his companion, his Star as she called herself, he took her in from the corner of his eye. To his disappointment all the same unwanted feelings were coursing through his mind. Marco was captivated by the fake Star’s body. Everything from her silky smooth, unblemished skin, to her hair that seemed to radiate in the moonlight. Even the way she walked seemed to Marco to have a graceful beauty to it. All this worked to invoke deep feelings of attraction and longing in the young man.

“You like what you see?” The fake Star asked and a relaxed, unassuming tone.

“Yes very much.” Marco uttered in response without thinking. He Blushed furiously on realizing his mistake, stuttering as he tried to take it back.

“You know it’s rude to stare” the fake Star interrupted, seemingly amused by his antics. “No matter how discrete the other person is trying to be about it.” Turning her head to him as she ended her statement and giving Marco a playful wink. Marco hung his head in embarrassment as the pair continued their walk towards the hills in the distance.

“What I don’t get is, why I'm still feeling this way,” Marco said as they walked. “The last thing I remember at the dance was that weird looking thing above us focusing the moonlight cracking and now the moon above us is too.” On finishing Marco pointed his finger towards the ruptured moon, all traces of read having gone from it. “This means the curse is lifted right?” Marco asked the mental projection to his side. “So does that mean my feelings for Star are...real?” At that the fake Star burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

“Oh Marco...no, just no! A billion times no! Like a pile of no’s stretching across the trans-dimensional multiverse from Earth to Mewni no!” The Fake Star finally forced out after calming down. “I am how you feel about Star, trust me I’d know.”

“Well how do you explain what I’m feeling then?” Marco asked, mildly irritated by the fake Star’s dismissal. “Right now I want to take you in my arms and kiss you.”

“Marco...that’s gross,” the fake Star replied, a look of discomfort on her face. “Your cute and all but,” a mild shudder overcame the fake Star, “That is not something I want happening.” Marco felt mildly insulted. He remembered the real Star had seemed pretty into their kiss in the magical photo booth. Even if Star did have a mild panic attack afterwards when she remembered her and Tom were dating.

“Your still not giving me an answer though,” Marco said, the seeming contradiction getting to him. There was silence for a bit as the fake Star seemed to be gathering her thoughts. In time they reached the bottom of the nearest hill and began to ascend it.

“Marco, you and Star have been in a lot of fights together right?” The fake star asked. Marco nodded as she continued. “Think about those times you got beat up pretty bad. You didn’t just shake it off like one of those Earth cartoon characters, sometimes you’d be limping for days.” Marco’s eyes began to widen.

“Are you saying what I’m feeling is just a delayed reaction? My heart doesn't know I don’t feel that way about Star anymore? It’s still waiting for the memo to arrive?” Marco asked in wonder.

“In a way,” the fake Star answered cryptically as the two of them reached the top of the hill. “There is something you have to deal with first though.”

“What’s that?” Marco asked, puzzled.

“Them,” said the fake Star, pointing down the other side of the hill towards a group of figures running up towards them.

“Star, I mean my Star. Look I’m just gonna call you Star as it’s easier, who the heck are they?” Marco asked the fake Star nervously. The fake Star did not answer and instead drew her wand, her eyes hardening, ready for a fight. “Oh boy,” said Marco to himself, adapting a defensive karate stance and focusing on his breathing. The figures were still too far away to make out in the dark but there were a lot of them. Wanting to avoid a fight if he could Marco had an absurd idea.

“Don’t come any closer!” The teenager shouted down to the advancing figures, parting his arms wildly. “I have the high ground!” The fake Star turned her head to stare at Marco in utter disbelief.

“Seriously?” The fake Star uttered in mocking disdain. “The Star Wars meme?”

“I didn’t think you’d get the reference, I never showed Star the prequels,” Marco said, surprised.

“I’m not Star, remember, I’m from your head so I know everything you know...unfortunately,” fake Star replied.

By now the figures were close enough that Marco could begin to make them out. What greeted his sight was not pleasant. They could loosely be described as zombies, but such a label would not have done them justice. Each one was a horrific combination of different human body parts in some swelling, fleshy mass.

“Those...are...horrifying” Marco let out. His heart was racing as adrenaline started pumping. “Look Star, if I have to fight them, fine, but you gotta tell me what they are.” The fake Star bit her lip, hesitating.

“They're your memories,” the fake Star let out.

“My what?!” Marco exclaimed.

“Along with changing how you felt in the present the curse also affected your memories. Any that stood in the way it suppressed, making you forget. Those too important to get rid of, it altered slightly. We have to fight what the curse did to them, to set them free,” fake Star explained.

The zombies were close now, in another twenty seconds they’d be engaging them. By now the sound had reached Marco as well. He could hear the agonized screams of his friends inside them.

For the brief moment before they engaged their foes he contemplated the full implications behind the fake Star’s words. For the first time he realized just how insidious this curse was. Until now it had never occurred to him that it had affected him to such an extent. Marco had assumed he was, for better or worse, the same person he always had been. There was simply an attraction and unhealthy fixation towards Star on top. But according to Star, well his Star, the curse had been taking something away from him as well. ‘Does that mean?’ He thought, as an image of a lightly freckled, blond haired girl with a neon green stripe down the side of it flashed into his mind. Before he could ponder this further the zombies were upon them.

“Hiyah!” Marco screamed as he landed a downward strike with his fist against a zombie. This was followed by a powerful drop kick that toppled it over. To his left the fake Star was unleashing a narwhal blast at another. Pain surged through him as Marco was struck from behind by a deformed limb belonging to a zombie that had out flanked him. Falling to the ground Marco went into a controlled roll, avoiding a follow up hit. Jumping to his feet with surprisingly limited effort, Marco delivered a very hard uppercut to the offending zombie. He stuck it with such force it actually raised a foot off the ground before crashing the floor.

To Marco’s surprise, on making contact with the ground the zombie broke apart, the rotten flesh scattering and revealing a little girl inside. She stood up and smiled sweetly at him and at once he recognized her as Jackie. She appeared as she had looked at when she was six, back when they were in first grade together. She was also holding a small pot of chocolate pudding for some reason.

“Thank you for freeing me.” Said the small Jackie and before he could ask her a question she dissolved into tiny sparkles of light that proceeded to fly into him. Marco gasped, clutching his head as a memory, locked away and forgotten, resurfaced.

***

Marco was sitting down at the lunch room gazing across to the other side at Jackie. He thought she looked so cool and pretty as she chatted away to her friends. ‘I wish I could sit next to her and hold her hand,’ he thought. His best friends Alfonzo and Ferguson were chatting about video games. At first he had followed along and made contributions but then Jackie had proved more interesting. He kept imagining different scenarios where he could go over and talk to her but fear and embarrassment kept him glued to his seat.

It was at that moment Justin had grabbed Jackie’s chocolate pudding and poured it down his throat. Marco was too far away to hear the commotion that followed but he could tell Jackie was upset. After some heated exchange of words Jackie got up with her tray and went back to the lunch counter asking for a replacement. Alas, no pudding had been forthcoming. The rules were quite clear and sadly the children coming up with all kinds of lies to get more pudding was a common occurrence.

Marco’s eyes followed her as Jackie slowly walked back to the table and sat down. She stared at her tray with a sad, disappointed look on her face. Feeling his eyes well up Marco felt a surge of confidence flow through him. Grabbing his own uneaten pudding he begun to walk towards Jackie, his head held high at the righteous deed he was going to perform. Unfortunately this had not lasted long. By the time he was halfway across the lunch room Marco’s footsteps had already slowed and he had started shaking. At a few feet from Jackie Marco stopped altogether. He ready to pass out from the amount blood flowing to his cheeks in a massive blush.

With relief Marco noticed that Jackie had her back to him. She had turned to the side in her chair and was having a conversation with Brittney. Seeing his opportunity Marco summed up all the strength he had left. He stepped forward, placed the pudding on Jackie’s tray and then proceeded to run out of the lunchroom as fast as he could.

After bursting through the doors and leaning against the wall to catch his breath Marco peeked back nervously into the lunchroom. He saw Jackie staring at his pudding, a look of confusion on her face. She looked from side to side to see who might have given it to her but of course there was no one there. Resigning herself Jackie picked it up and started to eat it. At her first spoonful Jackie’s face had turned to one of pure bliss.

Watching Jackie beaming happily Marco felt something stir within him. More than simple childish infatuation, he realized that her being happy meant more to him that the thoughts of one day talking to her. It was a feeling bigger than Marco could really understand. In some ways it was a little scary to the young boy but more than that he was certain it was important. Also he was sure that, as he got older he would grow to understand. So right there and then Marco made a promise to himself. If he became her boyfriend one day he’d do everything he could to make her happy.

***

Back in the present Marco shook his head to clear it, ‘how could I have forgotten that?’ He asked himself rhetorically since he knew the answer, ‘that damn curse!’ Rage was overtaking him now that he had gotten a taste of what he had lost, what the curse had taken from him. With Reckless abandon he charged at the nearest zombie, tackling it to the floor.

“How could you take that from me!” Marco screamed at the zombie as he climbed on top of, straddling it. “Do you have any idea how important that was, how much it meant?!” With that Marco started to wale on the zombie below him, striking it over and over again with his fists.

The zombie below him broke apart under his assault and revealed another Jackie along with a Star. Star seemed close to his own age while Jackie looked a little younger. Jackie was wearing her dress from the school dance they had ditched to go on their first official date. Star on the other hand was wearing her more formal green dress, the row of photos in her hand giving him no doubt as to exactly what moment she was from.

“Thanks dude,” said Jackie smiling at him.

“Yeah it was petty cramped in there,” added Star chuckling lightly before they both turned into sparkles and merged with him like the previous Jackie. Again Marco was overcome by memories only this time they were events he had not forgotten.

***

He was at the park with Jackie, he had just helped her up after she’d wiped out while they were both riding her skateboard. Their eyes both dropped taking in their held hands. It had been everything he’d thought it would be and more. It was like her hand told him a story of her life. Marco could feel the hardened callus that testified to her ruff spotting hobbies. He also detect a paper cut on her thumb and wondered, ‘perhaps it's from the corner of one of those history books she mentioned?’ Above all though was his heart thumping in his chest like a medieval war drum.

“You know, I’m really glad I asked you out.” Jackie said smiling broadly at him.

“Me too.” Marco replied awkwardly before they both leaned in for a kiss and what a kiss it had been. He understood now where the term up on cloud nine had come from. It was as though joy had somehow lifted him out of his body and up into the heavens. Yet in spite of that he somehow remained grounded in the moment. The feel of her soft lips against his and the gentle, tender pressure behind them as they both explored this new and growing connection between them. While skeptics might scoff, calling it baseless, sentimental drivel a single thought passed though his mind, ‘this feels right.’

***

Marco was mortified these thoughts, feelings and emotions had been hidden from him. Debasing one of the most important moments of his young life. In the past when he had attempted to recall the kiss, his first kiss, it had seemed empty and grey. Now he knew why. Before he could go further though the memory of Star grew clear in his mind.

***

Him and Star were been stuck in that idiotic magical photo booth. Things had been said, things that could not be taken back. Admittedly some of it needed to be said. It had been wrong of him to pretend Star’s heartfelt confession back at the party had never happened.

“Take the photo the booth is waiting for,” Marco said in response to Star’s query about what he was going to do.

“Go get em tiger,” Star said enthusiastically. Clearly she had no idea what was about to happen.

Marco deposited the money and sat back down. The photos started, during which a kiss took place. This was different than before with his kiss with Jackie. The curse had not been altering his memory of the experience. Rather what he experienced at the time had been a fabrication. Behind these superficial, fake feelings of attraction and obsession had been his true self, silenced by the curse but now finally being given a chance to speak. The kiss felt off, unnatural, like kissing a family member inappropriately. It was uncomfortable and disturbing. Put simply, in the reverse of his kiss with Jackie, if not for the curse he would have thought, ‘this feels wrong.’

***

Marco was freaking out. As the effects of the curse were being undone he was growing more and more conscious of how little control he’d had over his own mind. At least when it came to his relationships. He’d heard plenty of stories of people getting so drunk they blacked out and lost their memory. If their drunken antics had been caught on film and shown to them, it felt like they were watching someone else.

As panic started to overtake him, Marco did not notice the large zombie learning over him. It raised it’s mutilated limbs high as it prepared to bring them down on Marco’s head with full force. By the time Marco saw it the opportunity to dodge was gone, the creature already bringing it’s limbs down. ‘Crap,’ he thought, ‘this is gonna hurt.’

At the last second however, before the zombie crushed his skull, it was sent flying by a magical rainbow fist. Marco turned his head in the direction it had come from to see the fake Star’s glowing wand. She gave him a quick thumbs up before returning to battling the zombies around her.

Pulling himself together Marco put his potential existential crisis to one side to deal with later and got stuck into the fight.

Within ten minutes the fake Star and Marco had taken out the rest of the zombies. Along the way Marco had recovered and restored many of his memories. As corny as he knew it sounded, he felt like himself again. These unwanted feelings towards Star that had been causing him so much pain and anguish were finally gone.

Recovering from the fight Marco sprawled out on the ground to rest, looking up at the stars. Another kind of Star soon joined him, lying down at his side. He closed his eyes with contentment. It was a little too harsh to say it felt like he’d woken up from a nightmare. Outside of the messed up drama with the curse he’d had legitimate fun in Mewni this past year. He resented the fact that the curse had manipulated his mind into coming here, to not be separated from Star. Yet he knew he’d grown from those experiences so he could not just dismiss them. The real thoughts buzzing round his head now was contemplating the path not taken. If he had stayed on Earth, if he had stayed with...her.

“What are you thinking about?” The fake Star to his side asked, piercing though his thoughts.

“Don’t you already know? I thought you said you knew everything I know,” Marco answered playfully.

“Sure I do,” replied the fake Star. “But I think you’d feel a lot better if you talked about it.”

“You're probably right,” said Marco opening his eyes and rolling onto his side. The fake Star did the same so they were facing. “It’s just, when I came with Star to break this accursed curse-”

“Accursed curse?” Fake Star interrupted, snorting. Marco rolled his eyes ignoring her.

“When I came down with her,” he continued, “I never expected that it would involve Jackie. I was so sure that, whatever my feelings for Star might be, I had long moved on from her. Heck I’m even break up buddies with Kelly at the moment for goodness sake! She’s two relationships removed, three if you count the flirting me and Hekapoo did in the Neverzone that probably would have gone somewhere if Star hadn’t shown up.”

“Well what do you think you’d do if it were her laying next to you right now instead of me?” The fake Star asked in a comforting tone.

“Um...is hiding my head in my hoodie and peeing my pants an acceptable answer?” Marco answered in a depressed tone.

“Marco!” The fake Star exclaimed, playfully slapping his arm.

“Okay maybe not the peeing part, that is pretty disgusting, but definitely the hiding in my hoodie bit.” Marco shot back. The fake Star hummed a little in thought.

“Are you afraid it’s too late? If you go back to Earth and tell her how you feel she’ll turn you down?” Fake Star asked after a while.

“That’s just it Star, I don’t know how I feel.” Marco let out. “I know how I should have felt, how I really felt at the time now the curse is lifted. I’d have thrown that stupid meat blanket off the pier, taken Jackie’s hand and walked off into the sunset with her.” 

“Sounds pretty romantic.” The fake Star interjected.

“Yeah,” Marco said dryly. “When I try to collect my thoughts though, the ones about Jackie, they don’t fit together. It’s like there is a piece still missing, yet somehow it doesn't feel like the others.” Beside him the fake Star gave him a knowing smile.

“Well I’m afraid I can’t help you Marco.” fake Star started. “But I do know someone who can, I think it’s time I took you to them.” At that the fake Star got up and stretched her arms.

“Sure,” Marco said in response, getting up as well. “Before we get going though there’s something I have to tell you. I...still want to take you in my arms and kiss you.”

“What?!” The fake Star exclaimed. “But that’s not how you feel about Star, I know it’s not how you feel about her!” Before she could continue Marco had placed his hands on her shoulders, raised himself up on his toes and planned a chaste kiss on the top of fake Star’s head.”

“I know you're not the real Star,” Marco said to her on lowering himself and removing his hands. “But, I’m really happy you're my best friend.” The fake Star broke out in a goofy grin.

“Oh come here you!” She said, opening up her arms to him. Without hesitation Marco slid in between them and they embraced. It was the best hug he’d shared with Star in a long time. He felt the warmth of their friendship untarnished by the twisted, vulgar, feelings that had been forced on him by the curse. ‘I can’t wait to hug the real Star like this when I wake up,’ thought Marco as the two disengaged and he started to follow the fake Star.

“So then, who are we going to see now?” Marco asked curiously.

“Oh you haven’t figured it out yet?” Said the fake Star, bemused.

“You know I haven’t.” Pouted Marco.

“Think about it.” Star began. “I’m a manifestation of how you truly feel about Star, I’m your Star right?”

“Un huh,” Marco responded.

“So,” fake Star continued. “You want to know how you truly feel about Jackie...” Fake Star trailed off, waiting for Marco to catch up. He stopped dead in his tracks, his eyes widening.

“You don’t mean,” Marco started to ask, his apprehension growing.

“Yep!” Cried the fake Star in delight before he could finish. “We’re going to see your Jackie!”


	2. Chapter 2

Deep in Marco’s magically enhanced subconscious, a human boy, Marco himself and the mental construct of his best friend, Star Butterfly, walked side by side. In this strange mindscape the sun had begun to rise, illuminating the surroundings. The hills had dropped down further than Marco had expected reveling a picturesque valley with various fields and a river running down the middle.

Marco’s thoughts were consumed with his upcoming meeting with his Jackie. Would it be tense and awkward or like passionate lovers separated during a war, uniting in each other’s arms? 

There were so many little moments he could recall more clearly now the curse had been lifted. Lying side by side on her bed, the door left open at the insistence of her parents, talking about everything and nothing, just the feel of her leg and shoulder lightly touching his warming his soul.

Still his current feelings were a little muddled, it was like trying to remember a hazy dream.

Marco considered the options that would open up for him depending on the result of his meeting. If he was not still in love with Jackie the direction of his life would continue the way it was. At most he might take a few days to himself to mourn what might have been, what he lost, his first love.

Say he was still in love with Jackie, what then? He could either try and bury those feelings while he gives his focus to Kelly, his break up buddy that on some level he knew given enough time could turn into something more, or go running to Jackie like a lost puppy finding his way home.

One thing was clear to him, Kelly was no back up plan. He respected and cared for her too much as a friend. The idea of cynically keeping her in reserve while he went to see Jackie in case she had completely moved on or just didn’t want to give them another chance seemed wrong to him. _If I love her,_ Marco resolved, _then that’s it, I’ll see Kelly first and tell her it’s over and then put everything on the line for Jackie and accept the consequences, it’s the only way to be fair to both of them._

Feeling a certain sense of relief at the resolution he’d made, Marco allowed his focus to shift back to his surroundings.

Marco and fake Star had reached the outskirts of some farmland. Coming up on his right was a fenced off area where a few dozen sheep were grazing. As the pair got closer Marco noticed that something was off about them. At first his mind rejected it, blinking hard to try and clear the image, but it remained. Every one of the sheep had Jana’s face.

“Marrrrrrrrrcoooooo!” The Jana faced sheep began bleating as he and fake Star walked past the fence. Marco shuddered.

“Star?” Marco began to ask his companion, casting an unsettled look towards the Jana sheep.

“I think it’s best you just don’t think about it.” Fake Star replies curtly, taking the boy's hand and pulling him past the fence as the Jana sheep were forming a cheerleader style pyramid while continuing to bleat Marco’s name.

“So creepy.” Marco uttered under his breath, looking back, as the two of them continued on and the Jana sheep disappeared from view.

Even though they had left the disturbing Jana sheep behind fake Star and Marco continued to hold hands. It felt comforting after the emotional roller coaster he’s been going through the last half hour. Were the curse still affecting me, Marco though, I’d probably be sweating buckets by now at the feel of her hand in my. The very idea of the forced arousal that would've spread through him was obscene to him. Taking this pure act and perverting it, like a poison in his body from being forced to drink bleach.

“Hey.” Fake star said gently, picking up his thoughts and giving his hand an extra tight squeeze, “It’s a lot to deal with, I get it.”

“I feel like I just woke up from the matrix,” Marco said sadly. “The first one I mean, before the series disappeared up its own ass.” Falling into geek mode like a security blanket Marco began to partially quote Neo from the film, “I have all these memories of loving Star, of not loving Jackie. None of it was real. What does that mean?”

Deciding to indulge the troubled boy fake Star easily fell into the roll of Trinity. “That the blood moon curse cannot tell you who you are.” Marco managed a weak smile. His eyelids were heavy with unshed tears.

“It'll be okay, I promise,” fake Star tried to assure him.

“I hope you're right,” Marco replied, squeezing her hand back.

Fake Star and Marco fell into a comfortable silence, in time they left the farmland behind and entered a wood of tall evergreen trees. With the scenery less diverse Marco finally noticed that fake Star’s appearance had changed from when he first met her. She was a few inches taller and no longer wearing the green dress the real Star was wearing when they first. Instead she was adorned in the white blouse and shirt with straps combo real Star had been wearing when they had held hands before the severing stone.

“Took you long enough to notice,” fake Star quipped playfully.

“H-How long?” Marco stuttered.

“From the moment we took out the last of the zombies and freed your memories. Before that your subconscious picked an image of me from before the curse, one that was not, tainted,” fake Star answered casually.

“Tainted,” Marco repeated darkly. His breath hitched in his throat as new worries assaulted his mind. Letting go of fake Star’s hand Marco stopped, his breathing rapid as he started to shake. Panic welled up in fake Star’s eyes and his thoughts passed to her.

“No Marco!” Fake Star said sternly, “Don’t go there, please, it’s not like that.”

“How do you know?” Marco said, desperation creeping into his voice, “It was so long ago, almost 2-years. What if me and Star were never friends! How can I be sure that even early on, before it got strong enough to pull me and Jackie apart and make us obsessed with each other that it was not already pushing me and Star together?”

“Marco,” fake Star began very slowly, painfully aware how fragile Marco’s mind was right now. “The curse is lifted and I’m still here. I didn’t disappear in a puff of smoke. You know I’m a manifestation of how you feel about Star. The love you feel for her. Friendship love. That’s me. It’s what I’m made of.” Fake Star smiled warmly at Marco and moved to embrace him but the boy stepped back.

“I want to believe,” Marco uttered, he sounded so lost.

“You knew Star for a couple of months before you were both cursed right? Think back to how you felt about her then, right before it happened,” fake Star said evenly.

“We were friends,” Marco answered.

“No,” said fake Star firmly, “You were best friends.”

“I,” Marco started then stopped, looking at the ground, mulling things over.

“Even that early on you felt it, a connection, she was a girl you wanted to be part of your life but so different from Jackie,” fake Star pressed. Marco raised his head, their eyes met and he took in the sincerity he saw in them. “Didn’t you ever stop and think about how the curse took as long as it did to make you Star as obsessed as you became towards the end?” At this Marco was somewhat taken back.

“I thought it just got stronger over time,” Marco replied cautiously.

“Marco,” fake Star began again, a light smile on her lips, “The curse is not an RPG character that needs to level up though grinding. If it had been able to, you and Star would have been like that from day one.”

For the first time since this whole ordeal started Marco felt some semblance of a notion that maybe he had in fact had some kind of control over these aspects of his after all, that him and Star were not just pawns in some magical game. “It was you,” Marco said, “I mean my feelings for Star, the real Star, well that is you, you were fighting the curse the whole time weren't you?” The relief Marco was feeling was infectious as fake Star’s smile beamed brighter.

“Not just me, but your feelings for Jackie too. What you have with Star is special Marco, what you had with Jackie, what you may still have with her, that’s special too. They held back a demon curse for a whole year Marco. I’m just sorry I could only slow it down.”

“Don’t be,” Marco replied without hesitation, stepping forward and embracing fake Star in a hug. “You and my feelings for Jackie brought me the time I needed to figure this out, to know something was wrong so me and Star could fix it. Without you, I think we’d probably be together now in some warped, brainwashed relationship. I guess we’d both think we were happy and in some twisted way we would be, but we’d not really be me and Star but puppets for the curse to control. So thank you, thank you so much!”

The two stayed together for a while just basking in the shared love they had for each other before fake Star finally withdrew. “Come on,” she said, “We’re almost there.”

Marco and fake Star headed deeper into the woods, eventually coming to the mouth of a cave. Carved directly into the rock above the opening was a life size statue of Jackie in the style of the Greek Goddess Aphrodite, practically naked with only one of her arms across her chest and thin cloth further down to protect her modesty. Marco blushed profusely at the sight while fake Star smirked. “My, my, what an overactive imagination you have Marco,” fake Star teased while turning her head to enjoy watching him squirm.

“Shut up,” Marco pouts. Chuckling lightly, fake Star turned her gaze back to the statue.

“You know,” fake Star added, her eyes staring closely at the Jackie statue’s breasts. “Even with her covering them with her arm so they're hard to make out, I’m pretty sure they're not that big.”

“Star please!” Marco begged, covering his face with his hands.

“Alright I’m done,” fake Star relents, draping her arm across Marco’s shoulders and pecking his cheek. “Lets go inside and say hi.” With that fake Star threads her arm through his and they head inside the cave.

As darkness starts to overtake them the further in the go Star casts a basic light spell with her free hand, the wand she’d been using earlier having gone now this form was closer to the actual Star. Along the walls of the cave were paintings showing the plotted history of Marco’s relationship with Jackie. It was all here, every important moment, from the day he first saw her on the first day of kindergarten all the way up to her goodbye at the pier.

While the paintings themselves were haunting the boy in their own right, what disturbed him was the way each one of them had been defaced with blooded symbols of the blood moon. On instinct Marco stopped before a painting of Jackie comforting him when he, her and Star were on the way to that Love Sentence concert. At the time the significance of the moment was lost on him and while he was sure the curse played a part, he also felt his own immaturity was to blame too.

“This was it, I think,” Marco said softly, barley above a whisper.

“I remember,” said the fake Star, standing beside him.

“I was upset and Star, she’s amazing but she didn’t know how to help me, what I needed, Jackie did.” In the painting Jackie was patting Marco on the head. Even if it was a little patronizing it had made him feel better. “I think this is when I started to fall in love with, not just the crush I had before. It’s like she could see me, the real me and I didn’t mind.” Marco’s fingers traced Jackie’s hair in the painting. “No it was more than that, I wanted her to see me and felt like she was starting to let me see her too.”

“Well if that statue outside is any indication you definitely wanted to see her,” fake Star chipped in, trying to break some of the heavy tension and earning herself a playful thump on the arm from Marco.

“I’m ready,” Marco announced, standing tall.

“Then let's go see her,” said fake Star and together they headed deeper into the cave.

After another few minutes of walking the cave opened up into a massive cavern. Fortunately there were thousands of fiery touches lining the walls as Star’s light spell would not have been sufficient on its own.

Ahead of them was a trench that was so deep you could not see the bottom, only endless blackness. The only way across was a stone bridge and just beyond that on the other side was Jackie. She was in some kind of deep sleep or coma, lying on a stone block wearing the blue dress she was wearing the last time Marco saw her. Above Jackie was a stone arch that housed a mini version of the blood moon. It was cracked now, it’s colour faded like the moon in the sky outside had been. Marco reasoned that before it must have been continuously bathing her in the red moonlight, keeping her asleep.

Marco started to run towards the bridge but fake Star tightly grabbed his wrist, stopping him dead. “Star?” Marco quiried.

“We’re not alone,” fake Star answered, “She’s here and she doesn't want you to wake up Jackie.”

“Who?” Marco asked, confused, but he did not have to wait long. Swinging down on a rope from high up one of the cavern walls and landing in the middle of the bridge with expert agility was Kelly. She was clad in spiked battle armor, her massive sword gripped tightly in her right hand. “Kelly?” Marco exclaimed in shock.

“MARCO DIAZ!” Kelly shouted dramatically.

“Um...hi?” Marco replied meekly and waved, calmer now, having realized she must be a manifestation of his feelings for Kelly just like fake Star beside him. The fake Kelly on the bridge blushed lightly.

“Don’t try and distract me with your cute Earth boy charms Marco!” Fake Kelly shouted again, regaining her composure. “You know why I’m here, I won’t give up what we have without a fight!” Fake Star sighed and facepalmed.

“Give it up Kelly,” Fake Star began, “You know you can’t win, it’s two against one and I have mag-”

“You stay out of this Star,” Fake Kelly said, cutting her off mid word. “You had your chance and you blew it.

“My chance?” Fake Star said, incredulous. “Marco and Star were brainwashed, their relationship would’ve been as morally dubious as a Scientology arranged marriage.”

“Enough of your lies boyfriend stealer!” Fake Kelly snapped.

“Technically me and Kelly aren't dating, we’re just break up buddies,” Marco attempted to interject. This earned him a deadpan look from fake Star and a dejected one from fake Kelly.

“Maybe so,” fake Kelly conceded. “But not for long. Not after you wake up, leaving Jackie the way she is.” Fake Kelly looked into Marco’s eyes hopefully and he could not help but notice how cute she was and yes, as faint as it was he did feel something for the green haired warrior girl that in time he could see growing. “Just think about it. Without the curse or your feelings for Jackie coming back we can finally fall in love. I know the real Kelly is still hung up on Tad, but she’s not cursed like you were, it will pass, all she needs is time.”

“Kelly,” Marco began, answering his own mental projection. “I don’t know how I truly feel about Jackie, maybe I really have moved on and it will turn out like you want, like a part of me wants.” Marco took a few steps towards the start of the bridge and stopped at the edge. “I like you a lot Kelly and if that happens I think it could be really great.” Marco paused and took a deep breath, “I can see myself falling in love with you.” On the bridge fake Kelly was clutching her heart with her free hand, tears welling in her eyes. “But Kelly, you know how I feel just like my Star does. So you know I don’t think it’s right to build love on a lie right?” Slowly fake Kelly gave an almost imperceptible nod before Marco continued. “That’s why I have to find out how I really feel, for Kelly not for me, she deserves nothing less than who I really am, not a suppressed version of me...I’m sorry.”

Defeated fake Kelly slumped to the ground tossing her sword into sword into the void below. Pulling her knees up, fake Kelly started to cry and was soon joined by Marco and fake Star who both hugged from either side, the bridge being wide enough to accommodate all three of them without the risk of falling.

In time the fake Kelly’s tears subsided and she rose to her feet, followed by Marco and fake Star. “You know,” started Marco, a dorky smile appearing on his face, “For a moment back there where you first appeared I thought you were going to say, YOU SHALL NOT PASS!”

“You're such a geek sometimes,” fake Star and fake Kelly said together in unison before giving each other a high five.

There was an awkward moment between them then, neither sure who should address the elephant in the room. In the end fake Kelly stepped up to the plate, feeling a little guilty at the unreasonable demands she had attempted to make on Marco. “Go to her,” said Kelly, “She's waiting for you.”

Walking to the other side of the bridge Marco approached the sleeping Jackie on a stone slab. Apprehension consumed him as he got closer, bringing him to a halt while he was still several feet from the edge. In his mind he was that terrified grade school kid in the lunchroom all over again. This time however he had help and felt fake Star and fake Kelly pick him up from behind and carry him the rest of the way and placed him down next to the sleeping girl.

With some effort Marco forced himself to look down at Jackie, her sleeping face filling his vision. Marco has always prided himself on not judging girls in a superficial way and the fact that he felt he only started to love Jackie after they’d grown closer on an emotional level was a source of comfort to him. In that moment though, where her personality and the emotional connection was not available, he only had her looks to fall back and so he did.

Blood flowed freely to his cheeks and his heart jack-hammered in his chest, “She’s so beautiful,” Marco uttered, taking in her cute freckles, small dimple noise, thin lips, soft cheeks and neck, all the areas he had kissed her in the past. The kissing had felt good, I mean, of course it, but it was peeking at her while they did it, opening his eyes slightly to see her blush and giggle and on a few rare occasions even moan, that was what had got his heart racing the most.

“Hey Jackie, it’s me Marco,” Marco said softly gently nudging the sleeping girl’s shoulder to try and wake her. Nothing, she was as lifeless as a dolphin that had been dropped in the Sahara Desert. “Do I need to do the Shrek thing and shake her really hard?” Marco asked rhetorically and was about to try it before fake Star spoke up.

“Marco this is an actual fantasy setting, not a Dreamworks parody. I think you know what you have to do,” fake Star stated.

Marco swallowed hard, turning to face her, “Really?” The boy said nervously, “Are you sure there’s no other way? I mean, she’s asleep, kissing her feels a little, you know, Bill Cosby.” Fake Star’s eyes widened while fake Kelly’s mouth fell open.

“Wow,” said fake Star. “I didn’t think you were into dark jokes like that Marco.”

“Yeah,” fake Kelly pipped in, agreeing. “Your pretty square Marco, um, not that that’s a bad thing or anything,” fake Kelly added hastily.

“It’s only when I get really nervous okay,” Marco said defensively and I’m pretty nervous right about now.

Fake Star softened, “Look if it makes you feel any better Marco, remind yourself that’s not really Jackie, we’re just constructs of your subconscious feelings, we’re all part of you. Feeling guilty about kissing your Jackie would be like feeling guilty at practice kissing your reflection in the bathroom mirror.”

“I guess,” said Marco, accepting the logic of fake Star’s words but still feeling uncomfortable at the prospect.

“Look it’s just a quick peck, you don’t need to go in there full tongue or anything,” fake Star said, trying to put him at ease.

“Star!” Marco yelped, unable to get the image out of his head, “Now even more nervous.”

“Maybe it would help if you practiced a little first?” Fake Kelly said while twirling her hair between her fingers. “I’d be happy to help.” Locking eyes with Marco and subtly wetting her lips.

“Oh how incredibly noble and selfless of you,” fake Star mumbled dryly.

“That’s okay Kelly,” Marco forced out while turning crimson. “I got this” and turned back to face the sleeping fake Jackie. Inch by inch Marco’s face lowered towards her, a layer of sweat forming on his brow. Watching eagerly fake Star was squealing with excitement while fake Kelly had turned away in a huff. When he only had an inch to go Marco froze, he could feel his own breath reverberating back from fake Jackie’s skin. In his mind every kiss he’d ever shared with Jackie flashed before his eyes, every one respectful, gaining consent in various forms, never tacking, never forcing. Revulsion swept over him and he pulled his head back. “I can’t do this, it just feels wrong.” Marco was practically hyperventilating now, his eyes closed, slumped at the edge of the stone slab.

He felt a hand resting on his and assumed it was fake Star’s or fake Kelly’s before he heard her voice.

“And to think you wonder why so many girls like you.” The voice had a cool easy going feel to it and he recognized it immediately, it was the voice of Jackie Lynn Thomas. Opening his eyes he saw her, the fake Jackie, partially sitting up, her hand on his, looking down at him with that strange mixture of bemusement and devotion she gave him at the height of their relationship.

“Jackie,” Marco said in awe, just hearing her voice again, looking into her eyes, it was all coming back, everything.

“Thank you,” the fake Jackie said to him.

“For what?” Marco answered, his voice strained.

“For keeping your promise to me,” Jackie answered, and took his face in her hands. The feel of her fingers on his cheeks, it was like they were burning but it felt exquisite. A need he didn’t know he had was being filled. “You're still awesome” and with that Jackie started to bring her face to his, her eyes searching his for permission and finding only desperate, unbearable need in them.

Their lips touched and Marco was finally free, the last remnants of the barriers in his mind came crashing down. _I love Jackie,_ Marco thought, _I love her so much I can’t stand it. I want to shout it while standing on the roof of my house in the pouring rain. I want to walk barefoot with her in the sand at the beach during a sunset. I want to spend a whole day picking flowers for her, filling her bedroom with them and then telling her none of them as pretty as she is. I want to be there for her in every way that counts. She’d never need to ask me for anything because I would always beat her to it, asking her how I can make her happy and support her. She’s part of me, I’m part of her and we can be the best versions of ourselves when we’re together._

With a soft smacking sound the kiss ended and fake Jackie rested her head on Marco’s shoulder looking just as flushed as he was.

“That was,” fake Jackie started but was panting too much to continue.

“Yeah, it was,” Marco offered. He felt a light kiss on his neck sending a pleasurable tremor though his body before Jacke slipped off the stone slap to the floor and unashamedly nuzzled deeply into his chest. Marco’s focus on the stunning girl in his lap was momentarily shifted when he noticed the sounds of cheering behind him. He shifted his body round slightly, fake Jackie happy to adjust while never letting go of him to see fake Star jumping up and down while waving her arms ecstatically. Fake Kelly on the other hand while mopping slightly gave him a sincere half smile and a thumbs up.

“So what do I do now?” Marco asked the three mental projections. “How do I wake up?”

A wicked grin appeared on fake Star’s face as she came over to him and knelt down to Marco’s eye level. “Why Marco, you’ve always had the power to go back to the real world.” Fake Star said. “Just close your eyes and tap the ruby slippers heels together 3-times and say, ‘take me home to my best friend Star.’”

Marco blinked, “But I’m not wearing the-” he stopped himself. Looking down, poking out from under the fake Jackie, Marco could make out the ruby slippers on his feet. “Oh, well, there we are I guess.” Marco said a little dumbfounded.

“You see, you're not the only one who can make a pop culture reference Marco,” said fake Star playfully, adding a wink at the end.

“I guess this is goodbye,” Marco said, suddenly feeling a little sad.

“Not goodbye,” said fake Kelly coming over as well. “You’ll see all of us real soon, the real us.”

“Yeah,” Marco said, smiling as he took in each of them, the tears he has held back for so long finally flowing evenly. Fake Jackie scooted up and dried his cheeks with her fingers.

“Dude, don’t cry, you're gonna see the real me soon, tell her what happened with the curse, how you feel, isn't that amazing? You two could be dating again, making each other happy.”

“We could,” said Marco. The unspoken implication was clear to everyone. ”If she doesn't want to be with me.” Marco broke off and ran his fingers through fake Jackie’s hair. “If she says no, is there some way I can see you again?” The hopeful look in Marco’s eyes threatened to crush whatever metaphorical version of a heart the fake Jackie had.

“In time, as your feelings fade, so will I.” The anguish appeared on Marco’s face again and fake Jackie brought her face forward, kissing Marco’s cheeks and resting her forehead on his. “But I promise, as long as I’m here, I’ll visit you in your dreams often, as long as you need me.”

“Thanks Jackie,” Marco said, feeling content. He wrapped his arms round her and she cradled her face in the crook of his neck. “Come on guys,” Marco said looking up at fake Star and fake Kelly, “Goodbye group hug!” The two of them dived down towards him, latching on to him like barnacles to a whale. Marco noticed fake Kelly was being perhaps a tiny bit handsy on his chest, but he let it pass, he’d be leaving any second.

Surrounded by the warmth of his feelings in physical form, Marco summoned the courage to face the world outside. He knew not every story had a happy ending, he just had to hope his one would.

His ruby slippers poked out of the pile of girls on top of him, he tapped the heels together 3-times and said, “Take me home to my best friend Star.”


End file.
